With a near-theoretical capacity of 250 mAh/g, excellent rate capability and cycle life, and high energy and power densities of 760 Wh/kg and 1200 W/kg, respectively, these bilayered V2O5 systems can be used in applications at ambient temperature.

Engineers at Stanford have created photovoltaic nanoshells that harness a peculiar physical phenomenon to better trap light in the solar materials. The results could dramatically improve the efficiency of thin-film solar cells while reducing their weight and cost.

Electronic devices often develop ‘hot spots’ that can become detrimental to performance. Much research has focused on developing methods to cool the system, or, even better, convert the excess heat to electricity by exploiting the thermoelectric effect — where a thermal gradient induces the movement of charge carriers.

A group of young research students at School of Engineering from Standford has developed an ultrafast nanoscale light-emitting diode (LED) that is able to transmit data with 10 billion bits per second, a very, very rapid rate and with lower power consumption.

The heat which occurs in tiny computer processors might soon be no longer useless or even a problem. On the contrary: It could be used to switch these processors more easily or to store data more efficiently!